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Loose Threads
One Hundred Thirty Three
When the girls came through behind her, Xune was facing another female drow. This one was wearing an outfit similar to hers that was made entirely of leather and fur. Xune was nodding towards her. “Talyl.”
Talyl’s face was impassive as she nodded back. “Xune.”
“Why are you here?”
“The Matron has set me to be your guard. Sintree will help to guard the children.”
Xune looked around the room. “I do not see her.”
“You are not supposed to,” a voice said from beside Miriam, who yelped and started sideways away from it as the air shimmered and became a female drow. This one had lighter skin than Xune or Talyl, a charcoal gray, and was nearly six feet tall and bulky with muscle. “Xune.”
“Sintree. Why do we need guards?”
“Dinaen is a noble house and you are a noble in it. We are currently ranked twenty first, out of the twenty six noble houses that exist at this time and we are poised to move to twentieth in the next year as our wealth and power continues to grow. You and the children should have a squad of guards to travel with you and clear the commoners from your path, but the Matron knows you would not allow that.”
Miriam was staring, wide eyed, at Sintree. “Xune, what is wrong with her,” she asked in a tremulous voice
Sintree laughed coldly. “What is your name, child?”
“Miriam.”
“What rank is she, Xune?”
“She is my daughter.”
“Then she outranks me and is therefore free to address me without titles.” Sintree looked at Miriam dispassionately. “There is nothing wrong with me, Miriam.”
“But you feel so, so wrong!”
“You sense the evil inside her,” Xune said.
Sintree laughed again. “I am nothing compared to some of the others you will meet here, child. After all, I have my place in House Dinaen and I am content with it. But there are monsters here that some of the other houses summon and try to bind into their service, foolishly thinking they hold the whip in the relationship. Those reek of evil.”
Talyl spoke. “There is a potential problem with your presence here. We currently have an auditor from the Council of Matrons here to spy for them. You are not known to have had children.”
“I have been gone for several years and I do not have to report births to anyone,” Xune said.
“Their spies, who linger outside our gates since they can no longer get any agents inside the House,” she smiled nastily. “At least none that manage to survive for long, they will know our numbers,” Talyl countered. “For lack of better things to do, they count our numbers whenever we leave or return by the known ways.”
“And I have still been gone for years.”
Sintree hissed. “And the auditor’s very presence is a calculated insult to House Dinaen.”
“How so,” Xune asked.
“Her name is Tadaraleth and she is the draegloth female that the Matron gave birth to and was taken by a leading noble house as a prize so many centuries ago. She was not randomly sent as our inspector.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Xune agreed. “We can only suffer her presence.”
“For now,” Talyl said. She turned to face Xune. “We are your younger sisters and, outside of the Matron’s orders we are yours to command. What would you have us do?”
“I want the children to see the prisoner.”
“Which prisoner?”
“The illithid.”
“It is growing weaker. It is not yet ready to feed on what we offer it. Yet, it is still dangerous to be near.”
“Has this spy, Tadaraleth, seen it?”
“No,” Sintree said. “The Council has become weak and one of the weaknesses it has is in allowing illithids open access to Guallidurth. The Council seeks an alliance with the illithids against the alliance the dwarves and gnomes have forged against the city. They do not understand or do not care that we drow are strong enough to protect ourselves without allying ourselves with the brain eaters. They might want our prisoner released so we have been careful to keep its presence here a secret.”
“Things have become that bad,” Xune asked.
“Yes,” Talyl replied. “We may have to act to cleanse the weaknesses from Guallidurth. We do not want the illithds freely roaming the city. They are a blight on the universe.”
“I want to take the children to see the illithid but I do not want to encounter the demon blood spy,” Xune said quietly. “Is that possible?”
“We should leave the house and come back in an hour or two. She will have left by then.”
“Wandering around the city with three children would be worse than meeting her,” Xune said. “Where is she now?”
“The Matron is showing her the armory. The Council gave her full authority to go where she wills because they want to know all of our secrets. They plan to send a higher ranked house to destroy us.” Talyl seemed amused. “Again. And again they will fail and our position will improve.”
Xune nodded. “Send for Varasilith. Set her to counter Tadaraleth. This will unsettle and anger Tadaraleth since she is much less powerful than Varasilith.”
“Her presence is not yet known to the Council,” Sintree noted.
“And by revealing one secret we can hide many more,” Xune argued. She smiled coldly. “Matron Alyfaen agrees with me. She has summoned Varasilith to pressure Tadaraleth and, hopefully, shorten her visit.”
“Good,” Sintree said. “She has no business here. Even if she does not shorten her visit, Varasilith will distract and anger her.” She grinned suddenly. “That was faster than I thought. Tadaraleth has ended her visit and returned to the Council to lick her adopted family’s feet.” She touched the wall with her palm and an opening shimmered into existence. “Come.”
The room they stepped into was dimly lit by a sconce with a flickering flame in it. The chamber was richly decorated with tapestries and a thick carpet, all in various hues of mauve. A writing desk and chair, both cut from marble and heavily carved, took up most of the room. Sintree ignored it to head for the door on the other side of the room and open it. “Turn left and go to the stairs. Follow them down until they end, which will put you in the prison. I will be behind the children, as I was assigned to watch over them.” She glanced at the other drow. “Talyl, stay with your assignment.” The hallway was unlit but the darkvision they all had made it easily navigable.
Talyl nodded. “I am.” She followed Xune down the stairs.
“Why is it so quiet,” Xune asked.
“This part of the house is part of the Dinaen family’s personal quarters and is not used by the rank and file,” Talyl explained. “You are recorded as a member of the immediate family so this is your area too.”
“You spend a lot of time around Daddy, don’t you,” Olivia asked from farther up the stairs as she and the others followed Xune. “You talk like he does sometimes.” Behind them, Sintree silently moved behind them.
Talyl nodded. “If you are talking about your grandfather, I have known him for centuries, ever since he first contacted the Matron with his plan.”
“Are you one of his women?”
Talyl glared at the young Megami Sama
“I belong to no male, child. Drow women rule here, not the males. It is a lesson you need to immediately learn.”
“I’m sorry for insulting you,” Olivia said.
“I accept your apology,” Talyl replied. “But do not apologize for seeking knowledge. It is power and power is the one thing we all desire above all things. I have never been sexually involved with Iain. Neither have my children or any other member of House Dinaen.” They reached the bottom of the stairs, where a reinforced iron door that was locked and barred had been installed in the wall. She lifted the bar out of the way and unlocked the door, “Wait.” She slipped through the doorway and was back a moment later. “Come. Do not speak to the guards.”
Inside, the area was well lit with continual light torches spaced on the wall every three feet. Two male drow stood sentry against the wall opposite the door. They wore drow chainmail and were armed with spears and swords. Both were alert and were busy scanning the hallway, which was lined with more reinforced iron doors on one side. They ignored Talyl and the others as she led them past the guards.
The prison was silent. “How is it so quiet,” Xune asked.
“The cells are soundproofed. We strive to deprive their senses of as much input as we can,” Talyl replied. “The lights in their cells never vary and the temperature never varies. We even keep their meals timed irregularly so they can’t use their feedings to try and calculate how much time has passed and they are fed mostly liquids so their bowel movements are spaced out. It is an effective way to help break them during interrogation. We then visit them at all hours of the day or night but always tell them that it’s morning to aid in the process.”
“That’s cruel,” Seraphina said.
“That is the intent,” Sintree said from behind them. “Cruelty, but with a purpose behind it.”
“It is actually a very sophisticated process,” Talyl said as she stopped at a door. “We want to make our prisoners respond well to interrogation without having them reach the point where they will tell us anything that they think we want to hear in order to make us stop.” She glanced at Xune. “The Council gives us prisoners that they cannot get information from because our techniques are so advanced. Getting the information from prisoners that they cannot and doing so quickly enough for that information to still be of use to anyone is one of the ways Dinaen is valuable to them.” Purple teeth flashed in a quick grin. “It is also one of the reasons they fear and hate us, because we are so much better at interrogation than any other house is.” She lifted the bar out of position and unlocked the door. “The illithid is inside. Because it is unwilling to eat the food we provide to it, it is starving and is undoubtedly desperate to escape and feed upon us instead of the organs we have offered it. It should not be able communicate with us due to the magical guards that prevent it using its psionic powers against us but they can speak our language and might try to sway one of you to its side. Do not fall for its machinations.”
Instead of the expected bars, the prison was a solid wall of a transparent, greyish material that stretched from wall to wall. On one side there was a door made of the same material that had been fitted to completely seal the opening it was in. In the stone wall next to the door, were four small levers. The first two levers were currently in the up position, while the third and fourth were in the down position. A metal grate was fitted into the ceiling and another metal grate was on the floor.
Inside the cell was a bed, a table and a chair. Sitting in the chair was the illithid. It was roughly the same height as Xune, with light green skin that glistened wetly in the light. Small eyes stared impassively at them while the four tentacles under the eyes, each a yard long, twisted and curled and uncurled aimlessly. It was wearing only a dark loincloth and had its hands folded in its lap. Its bulbous head slowly tracked from side to side as it watched the six drow entering the area outside its cell. A metal band circled its skull right above the eyes.
Xune looked back to see the three young Celestials all frozen and staring at the creature like rabbits surprised by a fox. They were all trembling like leaves. “Girls, it cannot harm you right now.”
They slowly approached her. “It’s so evil,” Olivia said quietly. “It radiates it. And it hates us so much.”
“It desires us too,” Seraphina whispered. She paled. “It eats us?”
“They consume the brains of sentients by using the teeth under their tentacles to grind their way through the skull and extract the brain. They also need our living bodies to reproduce,” Xune said. “Their larva burrow into the skull of a prisoner and eats the brain, taking its place before converting the body into one of the illithids. They see us as cattle and our enslavement to be inevitable.” She looked at the children. “They travel the Astral and Ethereal planes and cross dimensions, so not even the place where you live is safe from them.”
“They must be destroyed,” Miriam hissed softly. “We protect humanity.”
“Agreed,” Seraphina echoed in a hard tone. “All of them.”
Xune nodded. “There are humans and others who are holy warriors who fight this sort of evil. They could be your partners in your hunts when you’re old enough. Some of them are clan while others are not.”
“What will you do with this one,” Olivia asked.
Xune gave Talyl a curious look. “What is planned for the prisoner?”
Talyl smiled amusedly. “We know it can eat the food we’ve given it, but it refuses. It would rather starve. That makes it useless to us while it is alive. Soon we’ll kill it and dissect it, seeking information on its internal makeup and how to better kill more of them. Samples will be sent to Iain and so that he can use his special resources for examining the tissues and organs. His studies and the information gleaned from them will help us decide if we can poison them or give them a fatal and contagious disease.”
Miriam’s eyes went wide. “It says you’ve been torturing it. Her eyes went even wider. “He’s really our friend. We must let him out!”
Sintree grabbed the Angel around the waist and lifted her off the ground as Miriam moved towards the levers. “Talyl, it’s a sorcerer and is using magic on the child!” She muffled the yelling child with her hand. “Quickly! She’s been charmed.”
Talyl moved quickly to the levers and pushed the third one up to its stop. From several places in the cell, torrents of water began pouring down from the ceiling to splash everywhere before it raced down the metal grate in the floor. Talyl waited for a few seconds before pulling the second lever all the way down. Water backed up through the floor grate and quickly began filling the cell.
The illithid jumped to its feet and grabbed up the chair to begin pounding on the door with it. On the third blow, the chair broke. The water was high enough that the illithid began floating and it swam easily as it dropped the fragments of the broken chair. It rose with the water level until the cell was filled.
Meanwhile, Sintree had been murmuring while holding the still struggling Miram. The Angel glowed purple for an instant and stopped struggling. Sintree put her down but kept hold of her. “I have dispelled the enchantment on you. You are safe now, child.”
“What are you doing,” Seraphina asked of Talyl.
“It can’t breathe water and the room is full,” Talyl pulled the first lever down. “Drowning it will keep the body intact for dissection.”
“You’re as bad as it is,” Olivia said accusingly.
“She is not,” Miriam almost shouted. “Let it die!”
“In some ways, I am worse than it is,” Talyl said with a smirk. “But I am clan and I am doing this so we can learn enough to be able to eventually wipe out the cities of the illithids wherever we find them.” She shrugged. “Its psychic powers were cut off by the band it wore on its head. We were not aware that it was a sorcerer so the attack on Miriam took us by surprise. The creature was using magic to try to control Miriam and it would have used her to open the cell door. Then it would have tried to kill us and eat her brains as her reward for her obedience.” In the cell, the illithid was obviously beginning to panic as it searched for air. “Even with the headband, we cannot trust that its psychic power couldn’t fry your minds so we could not risk opening the cell to kill it. This works as an alternative and will leave the corpse almost completely unharmed.”
“How are you worse than something like that,” Olivia asked curiously.
“At some level, it knows that its race has to survive and it will grudgingly work towards that survival with others of its race. I, on the other hand, will drown a drow just as easily as I drown this monstrosity. Clan must survive. The drow that are not clan do not matter and, in many cases, they will seek to keep the clan from prospering as it should. That must be stopped and firmly so in order to protect the clan and us.” The illithid’s struggles began to slow and Talyl turned to face Xune and the children as Sintree finally released Miriam. “These creatures can hold their breath for up to an hour, so the cell will remain filled until the end of the day. Where do you wish to go now?”
Xune looked at the Angel. “Do you need to see more, Miriam?”
Miriam’s red eyes glowed softly as she shook her head. “This is real evil. What Iain is going to do is nothing compared to this, and I now see that it will be for the best when he is done. Do you think he will take me back?”
Seraphina hugged her. “He will. Daddy is the best Daddy ever.”
Olivia joined them in the hug. “He will.”
Sintree turned to face Xune. “Who are they,” she demanded. “They are not your children. They are not gold dragons.” She made a motion with her hand and her eyes narrowed. “They are human.”
“They are Father’s children and my sisters.”
Talyl hissed angrily. “You bring his children here? Are you insane? It is too dangerous for them here, and without him. He will punish us all.”
Xune ignored her to kneel and wrap all three children up in her arms. “Father will take you back, Miriam.”
“He was so mad at me,” Miriam said quietly.
“Father was not mad at you,” Xune disagreed. “He was upset at what you said and at you thinking you could make decisions for him and that you were adult enough to know what you needed. You have never seen Father angry and, hopefully, you never will.” She kissed Miriam on the forehead. “I have known him for a long time. He will take you back.” She smiled at the Angel. “If you want, I will be there when you ask him.”
“I would like that,” she said slowly. “Are you really our sister?”
“I am. Remember, I was adopted by Father, just like all three of you were. Shall I take you back to your mother?”
“Yes, please.”
Xune looked at Olivia and Seraphina. “Are you ready to return as well?” Olivia nodded solemnly. “Then back we will go.” She released the children and stood. “Take us back to the portal, Talyl.”
Talyl headed for the exit and everyone else fell in behind her. One in the portal room, Xune sang a different piece of song and the portal reformed. “Go through, children. I will be along in just a moment.” The three girls filed through and Xune turned to Talyl. “I will see Father later today. Are there any messages or dispatches for him or his priestess?” Zilvra was never referred to by name, anywhere in Guallidurth, as a security measure. House Khaven was still the second most powerful house in the city, and it was well known they used magic for espionage.
Talyl smiled. “No. Do not bring his children here again.”
“The matron signed off on my mission and you cannot give me orders, Talyl. As always, I will do what I feel needs to be done.” Xune stepped through the portal and whispered something the children couldn’t hear. The portal closed. She reached out with her twee, letting the children listen in with theirs. Security, this is Xune Grey. I and three children have just returned from House Dinaen and are in the portal room. Please have someone open the door for us. Look through my twee and see that we are alone and the portal is now closed.
Security responded almost instantly. Please wait. Someone will be there to open the door in about eight minutes.
We’re not going anywhere. Xune’s mental voice sounded amused.
A few minutes later there was a loud grating noise from the other side of the stone door. “They’re removing the bar,” Xune explained quietly. A moment later the door slowly swung open to reveal a mixed group of drow and dwarves. “Thank you,” Xune said.
“Welcome home,” one of the drow said. “And you’re welcome.”
Xune led the children back to Iain’s bedroom. “Does anyone need to use the bathroom or anything like that?” She pulled a piece of parchment from a belt pouch and sat down at Iain’s desk, took a pen from his inkwell and wrote on the parchment.
“We do not,” Olivia said after looking at Miriam and Seraphina.
Xune put the pen back in the well and used a sand shaker on the parchment to quickly dry the ink. She rolled up the parchment and, after taking a small ribbon from the pouch the parchment had come from, tied it around the parchment. She held up the bundle. “Iain Grey, my father.” The parchment vanished.
A handful of seconds later a gate opened where the one they’d came here had been. Xune pulled three small bottles from a pouch on her belt and handed then out to the girls. “This will break the spell that makes you drow,” she explained. “I’d like you to drink them before we leave so your mother doesn’t see you like this.”
Olivia gulped hers down. “What about your clothes?”
Xune smiled. “I wear clothes like this most of the time.” She took off the ring and her clothes returned to what they had been before as the girls shifted back to human.
“Why wear those clothes if you usually wear the others?”
“I don’t know your mothers very well and didn’t want to make anyone upset at me because of the way I dress. For many, it’s bad enough that I look like a drow and I want your mothers to like me. And first impressions are important. Never forget that.” She looked at Miriam. “Be direct with Father and talk to him first. And don’t be afraid to say that you made a mistake. He’ll understand. He makes lots of mistakes.”
Miriam nodded. “Will you stand with me?”
Xune smiled. “I would be happy to. That’s what big sisters are for. When one of our sisters or brothers needs help and asks for it, we do what we can. Do you want me to hold your hand?” Miriam thought about it and then shook her head. “Then I’ll just stay close.”
“Thank you.”
Xune pointed at the gate. “Let’s go, ladies.”
When they exited the gate, Iain and Lucifer were lying together in the shade of some trees, with Lucifer curled up against his side with her head on his shoulder. Iain was wearing his underwear while Lucifer was wearing only a pair of panties.
Xune grinned. “I see someone’s morals are being ground away.”
Iain smiled. “True, but Lucifer has to do it to me slowly or I’ll figure out what she’s up to and revert back to complete prudishness.”
“I believe she was speaking to me,” Lucifer said amusedly.
“Are you sure?”
Miriam stopped in front of them. “Can I be your daughter again? I was wrong and I’m sorry for hurting you and Lucifer.”
Iain looked down at his wife at Lucifer and she slid to the side. He went up on his knees and wrapped Miriam up in his arms. She sighed and went limp in them. “You never stopped being our daughter, Miriam. Once you agreed to become our daughter, you’re our daughter until the day you die and,” he kissed her forehead, “even after that. Your mother’s shade, if she’s still around when we get there, will have to share you with us.”
Her eyes stared into his. “I was always your daughter?”
“If you hadn’t been, you’d have been placed with another family,” Iain said. “You are mine and Lucifer’s little girl and always will be, even when your daughter brings us our grandchild or litter of grandchildren.”
Lucifer sat up and stroked Miriam’s forehead. She gave Iain an even look. “You changed her destiny.” She looked up at Xune. “No, you did. Did Iain put you up to this?”
“No. I knew how much it upset Father and I love him and want him to be as happy as he can. I understood why she thought she might have to do what she thought she had to do, and I understood how it was a mistake, so we discussed how Father does what he does for the right reasons, even if it’s sometimes hard to understand that at the time he’s doing something. And then I showed her what evil really is like.”
“We saw an illithid,” Olivia announced. “They’re really evil.”
Iain frowned slightly. “Illithids are banned from the valley on pain of death. Only I can approve one entering without it being immediately killed. Not even Xune can override that edict and the valley’s forces will enforce that law without hesitation.”
“We saw it at House Dinaen,” Seraphina supplied helpfully.
Iain’s eyebrows rose, but his tone remained cheerful. “You went to Guallidurth? Young lady, you have no business in Guallidurth.” His gaze shifted to Xune as his voice cooled. “And you have no business taking them there.”
“I disguised them as my children,” Xune said. “And Alyfaen gave us Talyl and Sintree as guards. The children were never in any danger, and this got you Miriam back.”
“I’m not disagreeing with that, but nobody is ever safe in Guallidurth. It’s just less dangerous inside the Dinaen property than it is in the rest of the city. The Council can still demand access and try to claim outsiders as sacrifices if they’re feeling stupid and they usually are. Who saw the girls while you were there?”
“Talyl, Sintree and two male guards in the prison,” Xune said. “The guards don’t know anything about us.”
“We are safe and home again,” Seraphina said.
“I suppose that’s the really important thing,” Iain smiled at her before transferring his gaze to Xune. “No more of this. You will seek permission next time and beforehand because there will not be forgiveness, whether or not anything bad happens to the involved children.”
Xune bowed gracefully. “Yes, clan leader.”
Lynn appeared behind Iain and Lucifer. “Iain, April sent me to get Xune so she can play with the others.” Her mouth opened and her tongue lolled in a grin. “She’s pretty much used up her other new toys and Mielikki won’t get to run the course until later.”
“I’ve never seen a blue werewolf before,” Xune said. “Is that a natural color?”
“I am a Dire Wolf, and this is my only form. And yes, this is my natural color.” Lynn’s ears flicked. “Can I have her?”
“She’s all yours,” Iain said as the gate closed. “Girls, you need to upload your memories to Theodora.” He gently put Miriam down and she moved to join her sisters.
“I already did, Daddy,” Olivia announced.
“Should I,” Xune asked curiously.
Theodora appeared. “Yes, you should. You are clan and this is protocol for coming here so that next time I will be able to analyze your memories to see if you are being controlled by an outside influence.”
“Can it wait until after whatever April has planned for me,” Xune asked. “I’ve heard frightful things about her temper if she’s frustrated about noncompliance.”
Theodora smiled. “First, you’re still a guest, Xune, and April would never treat you the way she treats family until you demand it. As for your memories, I can teach you and your twee how to upload your memories in a way that you won’t notice it and you can do other things while the upload is going on.”
Xune nodded. “Then please show me how that is done.” She smiled again. “You are the clan’s record keeper, are you not?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then I wish you to record my demand that I be treated as part of the family. I am, after all, and I want to learn as much as I can about this part of my family as quickly as I can.”
“Now you’ve done it,” Lynn warned. “April will chew you up and spit you out.”
“And she is going to do the same thing to my troops and clanswomen,” Xune countered. “It should happen to me first so I know what they will undergo. April will not kill me and crippling me will make me less helpful in defeating our enemies, so she won’t do that either. Anything else I can endure and it will make me stronger.”
Theodora looked at Iain. “Zilvra and the others have not made this demand yet.”
“Do they know they can?”
“It never came up. I’ll make sure they know they can.”
“I was first?” Xune grinned. “Very good.” She took Lynn’s hand. “Let’s go.”
“You are certainly one of us,” Lynn said cheerfully. “Teleporting.” They vanished.
“Zilvra, Helesatra and Arithallos have made the same demand, right after I informed them that they could.” Theodora said. “Why didn’t you tell them that they could do this?”
Iain shrugged as he stood and reached for his pants. “I didn’t even think about it. Oops.”
“Oops indeed,” Lucifer said as she grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. “Still, I doubt there’s any real harm done.”
“You’re wearing my shirt.”
She winked. “I think it looks much better on me than it does on you. What do you think?”
“As long as you don’t put on pants or a skirt, I agree.” He chuckled. “You’re not going to let me wear your shirt, are you?”
“Iain, I can’t believe you’d ask that,” she said in a voice full of mock indignation. “Your shoulders are much wider than mine and you’d ruin my shirt.”
“And we can’t have that, can we?”
Lucifer scooped up her clothes and draped them over her shoulder as she slipped into her sandals. “I have enjoyed this unexpected time with you.” She gave him a quick kiss. “What’s next on your itinerary?”
“I’ve got class with Caintigern, team training with my alternate bodyguards and then dinner.”
She nodded. “Then I’ll see you at dinner.” She glanced at the children. “Tell Xune that I am grateful about her resolving the issue with Miriam. I want to see one of these illithids.”
“I’ll add it to my list. The information on them is available from Theodora.”
“I will access it tonight but I want to see one for myself.”
“I’ll set it up, it just may be a little while.”
“I understand, but I wanted to make the request now.” She looked at the girls. “Come along, ladies.”
***
Iain peeled the meat from the from the bone of the piece of fried chicken and held the meat and skin up over his shoulder in his right hand. Ava giggled as Dancer carefully plucked the chicken from his fingers, chewed thoroughly, and swallowed. “That is excellent,” the moon horse said as she licked her lips. “May I have more, stallion?”
“Of course you can.” Iain began peeling more chicken and piling it up on his plate.
“Is it that you’re getting chicken,” Ava asked with a grin, “or is it the server?”
Dancer’s ears came up to point at Ava. “I can’t really answer that,” she said suggestively. “Unlike you, I’ve never sampled Iain’s meat.”
Ava laughed so hard that tears ran down her cheeks.
Iain sighed and looked up at the mare. “Are you trying to get your herd stallion to pick another fight with me?”
“Of course not,” Dancer replied. “But it is remarkable how much more attentive he becomes for a while after we have a lunch like this together and I tell the other mares about how wonderful Ava’s stallion is.” She snickered when Iain groaned.
“If he attacks me without warning, I am going to try really hard not to turn him into fertilizer,” Iain said quietly.
“What if he challenges you?”
“Dancer, you’re a nice lady, but I’m not interested in becoming the stallion for your herd.”
“That’s probably best if you don’t. The other herd mares would be very jealous and I don’t want strange mares trying to join mine.” Iain held up more chicken and Dancer went back to eating.
When everyone had had their fill of dessert, which was apple strudel, Ava sighed happily and looked at Iain. “Why did you ask us out here for lunch and why didn’t you invite Mother too?”
“Your mother isn’t here because she isn’t one of my priestesses,” Eilistraee said. Ava and Dancer’s heads jerked around to look at her, which told Iain she’d become visible to them both. “Don’t stand,” she said as Ava started to struggle to her feet. “Relax and treat me the way Iain does.”
Ava looked at Iain and the remaining two pieces of pie he’d claimed and then not eaten. “We saved you some strudel, Lady.”
Dancer bowed deeply. “I am honored by your presence, Lady.”
Eilistraee looked at Iain. “Where is Zilvra?”
“She’s with Heather and waiting for my call to join us.” Heather appeared with Zilvra, released her and vanished again, leaving the drow behind. “I saved you both some strudel and food, if you’re interested.”
Zilvra glanced at the sky and pulled her hood up before sitting down next to Iain. “Join us, Lady.” She looked up again when a large cloud that hadn’t been there a second ago shadowed the area. “Thank you, Lady.”
Eilistraee sat down between Ava and Dancer. “I don’t see any reason for us to be uncomfortable.” She looked at Dancer. “And it is my pleasure to meet you, Lady Dancer. I can only remember a few moon horse priestesses, from thousands of years ago when I was part of the Seldarine. It’s nice to meet one here.”
Zilvra sniffed the air. “Did you cook this fried chicken, Iain?”
“I did.”
“Did you marinade it the way you normally do?”
“I did.”
She picked up a plate and reached for the chicken. “Good.”
“Ava taught me that marinade.”
“Then she is to be doubly blessed for the marinade and for sending you to me,” Zilvra said as she filled her plate. Ava giggled again.
“How may we serve you, Lady,” Dancer asked.
Eilistraee grinned at Iain. “You should be more like her.”
Iain shook his head. “With all due respect, hoof implants are so last year. It’s better if I just stay me.”
Dancer’s ears flattened. “You do not speak to our Lady so cavalierly.”
Eilistraee smiled up at the moon horse mare. “It is all right, Dancer. I prefer some familiarity with my priestesses and I allow Iain more than most because of our relationship.”
Ava nodded. “Zilvra told me that you and he are lovers.”
Eilistraee smiled again. “We are.”
“Does that mean you are going to join the clan like Mielikki did?”
“I am not going to join the clan because Iain and I are lovers,” Eilistraee explained. “I am going to join the clan because Mielikki is right when she told me that it would be beneficial to me to do so. It will also make your clan more powerful overall, so it is also beneficial to your clan.”
Iain was staring at her. “How would becoming clan be good for you?”
Eilistraee smiled fondly at him. “You have done great things in making my religion spread and me more powerful while helping my children, the drow. You have more plans that will make the world safer for them as the centuries pass, but until those plans are successful, they could still fail and, as you once pointed out, my father has a very long memory and, sometimes, quite the temper. If everything else fails and my worshippers become once again hunted by the other elves, I can bring them here for safety. It would be much easier to get your cooperation if I were clan.”
“You but have to command him, Lady,” Dancer noted.
“That’s not exactly true,” Iain said as he filled some mugs with tea and set them in front of Eilistraee and Zilvra. “And Eilistraee knows it. I must weigh the risks to the clan because there are a lot more of Eilistraee’s worshippers who are not clan than who are. If the risk to the clan is too great, I would have to reluctantly refuse her request. If necessary, I would resign my position as one of her priestesses in order to enforce that refusal.”
“And he would,” Eilistraee said. “He has always been completely candid that family comes before everything else, and clan comes right after family.” She picked up her tea and took a deep drink. “And there is another, much more practical reason to join the clan.”
“What is that, Lady,” Zilvra asked, pausing from eating chicken for a moment.
“Gods are usually limited to one world,” Eilistraee explained. “Each world has its own discrete set of gods and goddesses. We welcome worshippers from other worlds and can give our power to the priestesses of analogs of ourselves, but few make the transition to becoming worshipped on worlds in more than one universe. There is a significant growth in a goddess’ personal power when that happens. Mielikki has that and I want it as well.”
Ava frowned. “With all due respect, my Lady, but is that important?”
“If a goddess did not want the power that she wields, she merely has to stop granting spells to her priestesses and let her religion die. Eventually, so will she. No goddess does that because we all want to become more powerful. Not all of us seek to become the most powerful member of our pantheon or of the world where our worshippers are, but our power prospers and grows as our religion prospers and grows. Here, although you are my only worshippers besides Xune, Arithallos and Helesatra, I am the only goddess of the elves and, by default, the supreme goddess of the elves. That is why I had Iain assemble you here and now, my priestesses on this world. It is so I can command you to go forth and grow my religion on this world, as well as the religion of my sister, Mielikki. You are also to grow our religions on any other world where the clan establishes colonies.”
“Lady,” Ava asked, “do we have to also become priestesses of Mielikki?”
“Mielikki and I have arranged things so that it would be to your benefit if you did, but there is no mandate that my priestesses must become her priestesses or that her priestesses must become my priestesses. Zilvra is not a priestess of Mielikki.”
Zilvra nodded. “I worship the Sisters but I am our Lady’s priestess. I serve her, in any way that she desires.” She smiled. “I have seen the errands that Iain gets sent on as a priestess of both of the Sisters and I have no urge to do the same. You may decide that you feel differently and wish to become a priestess of the Sisters. It is difficult to do so as you must be a priestess of both goddesses. Few choose that path.”
“It is difficult on purpose,” Eilistraee held out her mug for Iain to refill. “Mielikki and I want to make sure we don’t accidentally end up as one person, which can happen if the worshippers start changing our rules on our worship. Part of your job is to make sure that doesn’t happen while still spreading my religion.”
“It’s why there are no combined religious books,” Iain refilled the mug. “Each goddess has her discrete texts which reference the other goddess as her sister and BFF.”
Zilvra smiled suddenly. “Having this network around that my twee can access makes it much easier to understand your sayings. When will one be set up at home?”
“It’s high on the priority list,” Iain said.
Eilistraee cocked her head. “Best friend forever. It is nice to have that access.” She laughed. “If only it would make you easier to understand too.”
Iain smiled. “That way lies madness.”
“I like having to puzzle out Iain’s ways.” Ava said. “I usually do it while sitting in his lap. It can take hours to unravel his plans. It’s dreadful to have to do that.” She grinned when the other women laughed.
“And I haven’t complained yet,” Iain noted with a smile.
“Of course you haven’t,” Zilvra said. “The only woman here you might not want in your lap is Dancer.”
Iain sighed when everyone laughed again. “I am going to introduce you to the goblins tomorrow, with Mielikki there to help explain what’s desired of them. Other than that, we haven’t been proselytizing much outside of the family. There is a shrine to Mielikki in Shield and we’ll introduce you to the Shrine Maiden who runs it. We can bring more priestesses over from Twenty Three but the biggest issue I see is that the drow will be confused with some of the pokegirl breeds. That’s going to be problematic and fairly common until we finish reshaping the leagues into something more friendly to pokegirls as well as strangers.”
“How long will that take,” Zilva asked.
Iain shrugged. “We’re hoping for decades and planning for centuries.”
The drow priestess chuckled. “Just like always?”
He grinned. “Yes. I am selling the religious texts of Mielikki around the world. I’ll add Eilistraee’s works to that and change over to the newest versions of Mielikki’s so they both reference the Sisters like they’re supposed to. We won’t be able to chase down prospective priestesses, but,” he looked at Eilistraee, “that is supposed to be your job, that and your divine servants. If you and Mielikki or your servants travel alone, I can adjust the gate’s temporal aspect to ensure you’re gone from each universe the minimum possible amount of time.”
“She is a goddess, Iain,” Ava pointed out.
“Time is not one of the things I am a goddess of,” Eilistraee said as she patted Ava on the knee. “Although I appreciate your spirited defense of me.” She winked. “That’s why I have servants like Iain, who can keep me supplied with perfectly done three minute eggs.” Ava giggled.
Eilistraee looked around the group. “My religion can be of great value here. I’ve been briefed on the feral pokegirl threat and, once some pokegirls worship me, the monthly hunts would be perfect for helping keep the ferals under control.”
“Just remember,” Iain said, “we are not getting a ready reserve of drow who worship you and so growth is going to be slow.”
“I could send drow to you,” Eilistraee noted.
“And you could and we’d take them and then they’ll need at least a couple of years to become acclimated to being clan and then learning about the technology and the outlander cultures they’ll be dealing with. Nippon will actually progress much faster because we can make the Sisters part of the official religion once we’ve established ourselves and taken over.”
“When will you do that?”
“The current plan is that we will begin in less than twenty years. Mariko has to grow up first.”
“You could take her to another universe with a different time differential and let her grow up there,” Eilistraee said.
Iain sat up and focused on Eilistraee. “Why are you in such a hurry?”
“My mother is up to something. I don’t know what it is, but I think she believes she wants to go after Grey.”
“Personally or proxies,” Iain asked.
“I don’t know that either.”
“Proxies we should be able to handle right now. A goddess, on the other hand,” he shrugged. “Would be much more problematic.” He frowned. “I’ll have to rethink the defenses in the valley. I doubt we can stop her, but if I can use gates to shunt her somewhere else.” He grinned suddenly, “Like Nessus maybe. Now that would be funny to watch from a dozen miles or so.”
“I don’t like not knowing what she’s up to.”
“Your mother is completely insane. I don’t want you being able to predict what she’s going to do,” Iain said flatly. “I may be able to get Varasilith into her forces to get some information.”
“Try.” She glanced around the picnic. “I want Zilvra. You’re going to be very busy for a while.”
“She’s sitting right there.”
Zilvra was watching both of them curiously. “I haven’t been involved with this level of discussion before, but I am yours, Lady. We all are.”
Eilistraee nodded. “Zilvra, I would like to make you one of my Chosen.”
Zilvra froze for a second. “I am yours, Lady.”
Ava frowned. “I would have thought Iain would be a better choice for such an honor.”
Eilistraee smiled. “Privacy.”
Zilvra blinked. “You are not clan. You cannot invoke.”
“Iain, I want to join Grey. I will take your oaths as soon as I can. Let me in.”
“Ok, you’re a Grey. We’ll do the oaths later today.”
“Privacy.”
Zilvra looked completely bewildered. “Accepted.”
“Accepted,” Dancer said.
“Accepted,” Ava said. “Iain?”
“I am not invoking for Iain,” Eilistraee said. “He hasn’t told any of this for seven hundred years and he’s not going to start discussing it now. Yes, Ava, Iain is a great choice to be my Chosen, which is why he has been one of my Chosen for centuries. He’s going to stay my Chosen but I want Zilvra to become one of my Chosen, too.”
Zilvra looked at Iain. “You are one of her Chosen. She has called upon you to do things that I am not certain I could have done.”
“Our husband rocks,” Ava said happily.
Zilvra frowned at her for a moment before she smiled. “I had not heard that bit of slang before, but he certainly does.” She turned to Eilistraee. “As I already said, I am yours, Lady. I serve however you wish me to.”
Eilistraee grinned at Iain. “Why can’t you be more like that?”
“You didn’t ask me.”
Zilvra raised an eyebrow. “She didn’t?”
“She did not.” He glanced at Eilistraee. You asked Mielikki if she would let you make me your Chosen.
True.
“I think Zilvra will make you an excellent Chosen,” Iain said.
“She will. I end privacy.”
Iain nodded. “I’ve updated Mielikki’s texts and printed yours. The first shipments go out tomorrow and I’ve already contacted the retailers that I sold to and have offered to swap out the copies they still have with the new ones at no charge. Most of them have agreed to the exchange. And we’re still scheduled to meet with Arianrhod tomorrow after breakfast.”
“You knew the Lady was already here,” Ava asked.
Iain nodded. “Sometimes I can’t reveal things I know. Eilistraee and Mielikki both understand need to know and have come to use it well.” He rubbed his eyes for a moment. “Is there anything else, Lady?”
“Not right now, Iain.”
“Then would you like some strudel?”
“I would.”
Iain filled a plate and handed it to her.
***
Iain stepped through the gate and waited as Zilvra, Helesatra and Arithallos appeared out of it. “I know you told Ninhursag that you enjoyed your visit to the ranch. I hope you had fun.”
“It was a good visit and we learned a lot about the other women in your life,” Zilvra said. “And we now have a much better idea about what April intends for our forces. They are going to be training hard for a while to get up to the standards she’s shown us. It will be good for them and the clan, though and I want April to push them as hard as she can.”
“I did the best I could, but you’re right. She’s much better at that sort of thing than I am.”
“The food was excellent,” Arithallos smiled at him. “It’s a shame we can’t really copy their idea of the family doing all of the cooking for the family, but I did get some recipes of the things I liked best.”
“I wasn’t ready to leave,” Helesatra took his hand. “I have never been somewhere that my status as a half fiend was completely ignored until now. It’s always in the back of the minds of the people here. Ninhursag and the others accepted me,” she smiled, “us as if we’d just been away on a trip and returned. I want a door placed in my castle so I can visit frequently and so they can visit me.”
“We will all want doors,” Arithallos noted as she sat down on Iain’s bed. “Can we have them?”
Iain nodded. “We’d already planned for those to be installed. I just need to bring Dominique here and let her get excited over all the new magic she’ll encounter before we can make it there. The plan is to have them exit in the door nexus on the Danger Room so you will be able to use them to visit each other too, if you want to.”
“Why have them go there?”
“If someone unauthorized gets access to any door, they have to go to the door nexus where we have some pretty hefty defenses to make sure they don’t go anywhere else. I intend to replace several of the more worrisome portals with doors, like the one from the valley to Guallidurth. If there’s a lot of traffic between the colonies and the ranch, we may move the door in the basement to a dedicated structure so they’re not wandering through the house all the time. In fact, we’re going to do that no matter what. But it will give you a way to quickly move messages and small packages back and forth without needing someone who can teleport. We’ll still use temporary portals and spelljammers for the movement of military units and large shipments.”
“Are you staying?”
“Not now. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Arithallos cocked her head. “I remember a discussion we had about time differentials. What is the time differential between One and Twenty Three?”
“I can adjust the temporal aspects of the gate so that I can minimize the time I’m gone no matter which side I come from. As long as I don’t meet myself, nothing will happen to either timeline.”
“Can it?”
“I’m letting hours pass between transits just to keep that from being an issue. Theoretically I could cut that down to seconds, but I don’t want to accidentally get a coordinate wrong so I’m giving myself two hours to make sure I don’t.”
“I want a clutch,” Arithallos said. “Soon. I haven’t laid one with you as my mate.”
“I have never tried to stop us from having more children. I’m not going to start now.” He squeezed Helesatra’s hand. “I love all three of you.”
“And we love you,” Arithallos said with a smile. “Helesatra, let him go so he can come back in two hours.”
Helesatra released him. “Do not overwork yourself to try and keep everyone on both sides happy, Iain. I know you and that is the sort of thing you’d try to do while working to make sure we don’t realize what you’re doing.”
“I have to do some of that because I have obligations to all of you that I will happily perform. I won’t try to do too much. If you think I am, we can discuss it.”
“That’s fair enough,” Zilvra said. “Do you think we need to restructure the priestesses here into a more formal organization in light of what the Lady Dancer wants?”
“I think so. That will make you the high priestess of the valley unless Eilistraee wants someone else to do it so you’re freer.” Now that you’re a Chosen, you can ask her to drop by for a chat if you have questions about what she wants you to do. She wants us to do that, so use it. It may take her a day or so to respond, but she will.
Thank you and I will. But am I her Chosen yet?
You are. She made you one as soon as you agreed to allow her to. No, you don’t feel any different, but you are. I’ll show you what I mean later.
Her red eyes glowed as she looked into his. You are a remarkable man. Thank you.
He winked. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.” He stepped through the gate and it closed behind him.
***
Iain stopped at the head of the picnic table and smiled at the five women sitting at it. “Thank you very much for coming,” he said as he put the small metal chest he was carrying on the table.
Ninhursag nodded. “What is this about, Iain?”
“I’ll get to that. Sadly, first I have to put out some legal boilerplate before we have some fun. I don’t like saying this, but it’s a thing and I’ll be issuing this same warning for everyone else.”
Ygerna raised an eyebrow. “Else?”
“Over the next several days, I’ll be having meetings like this with every woman I’m in a relationship with,” Iain replied. “I’ll be meeting with them, like you, in groups of five in large blocks of time, here on the Danger Room, and early in the day because people are more alert then. April has already agreed to help coordinate with the required scheduling. Five is a good number to work with and allows for one on one work when needed without a whole bunch of people sitting around and waiting for me to get to them. Now, for the warning. I am going to give each of you something that you get to keep. It’s a magic item and it’s a tool. A useful tool. Everyone gets the same tool. Let me stress that. Everyone gets the same, identical tool. It is not a gift. That’s a shame because I really thought long and hard about customizing each of these for the person who gets it. I like doing that sort of thing for you because you’re really important to me. I reconsidered that decision several times while I was gone and each time I decided that my original decision not to was the right one. The problem is that if I made these into gifts, you’re going to use them for status within the harem and the family. That’s not why I do this sort of thing and I am sick and tired of it being perverted into that.” He looked into Ninhursag’s eyes, then April’s and, finally, Dominique’s. He also looked at Ygerna and Kasumi. “You know what I mean. ‘Iain gave it to you too but he gave it to me first’ and things to that effect happen all the time when I give everyone the same gift. It’s why I do that so seldom. If this gets turned into that kind of game I am probably going to stop giving anyone anything for a long time. Are there any questions at this time?”
“Do you really think we always turn your gifts into status issues,” Ninhursag asked.
“I’m willing to admit that I might be wrong. All you have to do is tell me of one instance where I gave everyone the same kind of gift and it wasn’t turned into some kind of status contest by someone based on the work on the individual item or the order in which it was presented.” He waited a moment as Ninhursag frowned. “April?” She shook her head. “Dominique?”
“No.”
“Kasumi? Ygerna? You’re not pokegirls, but you are around them and I give your harem gifts too since they’re joining the family with you.”
“I cannot remember any,” Ygerna noted with amusement, Kasumi nodded with her.
“I couldn’t think of one either.” He opened the chest and pulled out five bracelets that gleamed in the sun. “Yes, they’re made of platinum and they’ve got jet, emeralds and diamonds on them. They had to be made this way to hold the enchantments. They are still tools and they’re all still identical. See?”
He handed them out.
“What do they do,” Dominique asked as she examined hers.
“One of the things that came up with Zilvra and Helesatra is understanding what our children need as they grow and develop. A lot of issues had to be discussed out. But there was one issue that I made these to address. Yes, they have these bracelets too. They allow the wearer, if she knows the right command words and has a twee to send them, to shift into the form of a dragon like me.” Five women were suddenly staring at him intently. “I’ve locked the magic in them. Right now you can only take the form of a small dragon a meter or so long. Once you master that, I’ll unlock the ability to shift into a larger form. And no,” he said to Ygerna, “it will not harm someone’s pregnancy.”
“You’re sure?”
“Zilvra, Helesatra and Arithallos all wore and used their bracelets while they were pregnant. Nothing happened to them or the children.”
“Why did you make them?”
“My children have to learn what it’s like in their dragon forms. All dragon children do. That means they have to spend time as dragons. Sometimes they need supervision or even help with certain things while they’re getting used to being one. It’s a lot more helpful if I am not the only person who can tell them what to expect and to help them learn to safely be a dragon. Besides, flying is a lot of fun and it’s a great form of exercise. Fighting isn’t quite as much fun for some people, but it still needs to be learned by the children. That means it needs to be learned by their mothers too so they can easily tell the difference between play fighting and someone losing their temper and seriously attacking a sibling. Later I’ll unlock the ability to become a bigger dragon so you can learn what that’s like.”
Dominique was staring at the bracelet she held. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
“There is. When you graduate from my course of being a dragon, I will activate the final power these bracelets have. At that point they meld into your body so they can’t be removed or lost. You permanently gain the abilities the bracelet gives and can use it whenever you want. That means April is going to completely redesign her training program for the family, but she was going to have to redo it as soon as she starts training Mariko. No, she hasn’t shown a sign of having wings. Yet.”
Kasumi chuckled. “She’s seen you flying in video and really wants them. Will the children who can’t fly get these too?”
“No. They’re only for you. I am not going to make thousands of these to hand out. The enchantment process is pretty complicated and each bracelet takes over a year to craft and then another half year to enchant.”
Kasumi looked up. “You made these? The craftsmanship is very good.”
“Thank you. I think so too. I had to apprentice myself to a jeweler for twenty years to learn how to do it, but yes, I did. And I can tell you that cutting small diamonds to an exact shape sucks ass. I may have to see if nanite grown diamonds will work or if laser cutting will still allow the gems to be enchanted.” He closed the chest. “Now, if you’ll put those on, we can get started. Today we’ll work on getting used to this form and not tearing everything to shreds with your claws and teeth. Next time we’ll work on flight.”
“Can we use this outside of training,” Ygerna asked.
“I want you to. Just remember, crashing hurts, so you might want to wait for flying lessons before throwing yourself off a building.”
April slipped her bracelet on. “What about Monica and Arianrhod?”
“I have bracelets for them too, as well as Monica’s girls, Kasumi’s women and Ygerna’s harem since I’m involved with them all.”
“Could I make these,” Dominique asked.
“You should be able to. We can go over the recipe later.”
Ninhursag slipped the bracelet on. “Can I use my techniques and spells as a dragon?”
“I think so. We’ll do some testing and find out together.” Iain grinned. “For science!”
“Can we turn this tool down,” April asked as she put her bracelet on.
“That would complicate things, but I can’t force anyone to do this. It would suggest that whoever refuses isn’t invested in helping raise our children, which,” he frowned. “I hadn’t really considered anyone refusing. I’d have to think that through if it happens. Do you think someone will?”
“Arianrhod is still uncomfortable about magic,” April replied.
“I’ll talk to her. We’re not seriously involved yet now so it’s a good time to see what she is willing to do. She’s got lots of goblin males now who could get her pregnant if she wants.”
“What about your lovers outside the family,” April continued. “Like the outer clan you tame when they need it.”
“I’m not planning to get any of them pregnant, so they don’t get this.” He smiled. “Now, please don’t activate anything yet. My twee is sending yours the activation words, which are different for each bracelet. I thought I’d start with Ygerna.”
She smiled and stood. “I am ready.”
***
“What have you done?”
Iain looked puzzledly at his teacher. “Caintigern, I’m not sure what you’re referring to.” Although she knew he already knew the information, the history lessons had continued, albeit with one significant change. Now they discussed the people behind the decisions and the history, especially the people that Caintigern had known during her long life. They speculated on the ones that had predated her. It made the history lessons far more interesting and helped Iain to learn more about the dragoness who was now one of his mates, if only in name so far.
Caintigern looked at him evenly. “I speak of the fact that you have given your women magic items that allow them to take the form of the People. Taking the form of the People does not make them People. They are not and will never be of the People.”
Iain shifted slightly on the bench he was sitting on. “I know that. I also know that my children with them will not be of the People, but they will be dragons and will need to learn the things that all young dragons need to know. I could teach them everything, but their mothers will want to help. Them being able to take the form of a dragon will allow me to teach them so they can help teach our children.”
“I don’t like it.”
Iain raised an eyebrow. “Why do you care? They’re not representing themselves as the People, you’re not in a position of authority among the People anymore and we’re not on one of the worlds where the People normally reside. They’re learning something new so they can help with our children.” He turned to look at her. “Or is it the fact that they and I are having children that you dislike?”
Caintigern was watching him intently. “Historically, creating half breed offspring was strongly discouraged among the People. Sometimes strong discouragement slipped over into forceful discouragement and the resulting offspring were destroyed, often along with the drake who was siring them.”
“I remember those portions of the history you’ve given me,” Iain said quietly. “Are you threatening their lives?”
“I am not. I am your mate,” Caintigern replied. “I do not understand why you value them over me, but I know that you do.”
“You believe that you are innately superior to them,” Iain began.
“I am innately superior to them,” Caintigern interrupted.
“You are more powerful than they are,” Iain said. “You are more powerful than I am. That is the only way you are superior to them, and to me it doesn’t mean much.” He held up a hand as she started to speak. “Let’s take this to Ragnarök. I’ve been busy telling them how powerful and scary you are and seeing me arguing with you won’t help that image.”
Caintigern opened a gate and they stepped through, exiting in the cave in the Highlands. The gate closed as she regarded him curiously. “Why are you telling them that I am frightening?”
“They keep trying to hook us up.”
“What does that mean?”
“They want to add you to the clan so your power can be brought in on our side and they want me to have children with you. That’s why April approached you about joining the clan. You don’t want them to know we’re mates and so I’ve been discouraging that idea.”
“I have not told you to deny that we are mates.”
“Nightraven wants to keep everything about her and us a secret. You haven’t contested that idea and I can’t. Because of that, I have no choice but to pretend we are not compatible and that we’re not mated. Frankly, it’s as irritating as fuck to have to deceive them. While I’m not lying to them because we haven’t mated yet, I still don’t like it because I’m keeping important things from them. And when we start having sex, it’ll be harder to not lie to them. I don’t like deceiving them, but I don’t really have a choice, do I?”
“You do not. It would imperil their lives if we were discovered by our enemies.”
“I know.” Iain gave her a curious look. “Why did Nightraven choose me? And why did you go along with it? I am so not what you two are looking for in a drake.”
“That is not true. For a drake, you are powerful. The bloodline that you carry is unique and strong, which will help to make our children strong.”
“I’m contrary, disobedient, argumentative, strong willed and ignorant of the ways of the People, although I’m quickly learning what you teach me about them. I keep getting told that I’ll get my ass kicked by a lot of different dragonesses if I don’t pretend to be compliant when I go on my little spying expedition. You two act like you want me to be compliant too. Heaven forbid I be me.” He sighed. “In a lot of ways, the People remind me of the Kzinti.”
“What is that?”
“They’re a militant feline race that through selective breeding, genetic engineering or, more likely both, turned their females into idiots only good for producing more Kzinti.”
“We do not want drakes to be dumber, we want them to know their place in society. Dragonesses rule, drakes obey.”
“Caintigern, you say that you don’t want drakes to be dumber, but you are not selecting for intelligence among them. You’re selecting for pliability and dragonesses kill drakes who are not compliant. You want big, burly, quiet, obedient drakes. Well, guess what, that’s selecting for stupidity, and it means dragonesses are breeding with the most intelligent of the surviving drakes, not the most intelligent drakes. There’s a huge difference between the two concepts.”
“Dragonesses know what’s best for society. Drakes do not.”
“I’m sure the Kzin males thought that too. Once, a Kzin female would stand with her male and the rest of the pride but, for some reason, the males decided that wasn’t what they wanted and so they reduced the female Kzinti to obedient, stupid brood queens. The People are doing that to the drakes and it is not going to be to the benefit of the People as a race. It may be hard to see, what with the lifespan of one of the People, but look at the children and grandchildren. Take a good hard look at what’s going on with them and it might be easier to identify. By the way, and just so you know, intelligence is not sex specific and making one part of a breeding pair dumber is not helping the offspring of either sex to get smarter.”
“Dragonesses do not want drakes who will stand with them,” Caintigern said.
“You and Nightraven both tell me that. Yet you both want me to not only stand with you, but to fight with you and to go alone on a mission where I don’t lose focus and become some other dragoness’s mate because she demands it, if necessary, lying to and deceiving her and others while scouting out Blacktooth’s bloodline, for you two, so we can destroy them. And you want me to be in on the destruction. A drake of the People couldn’t do this. You want me to be a male dragoness who is pretending to be a drake.”
Caintigern stared at him for several seconds. “I had not thought of it that way.” Iain wisely kept his mouth shut while she considered his words. “I must speak with Nightraven about this.” A portal opened nearby. “Come.”
“Why do you want me to go along? I don’t want to talk to Nightraven right now. You two are going to talk, you’re going to come to a decision and then you’re going to tell me what I am supposed to be doing. I don’t get any input into that decision so there’s no reason for me to be there for the discussion except to provide the drinks and snacks.”
“Dragonesses have input into decisions. If we expect you to behave as a dragoness, then you should too. It is part of what my niece and I need to discuss.”
“I would like to point out that you said you and your niece need to talk about this, not us. That’s part of that whole prejudice against drakes thing I was just talking about.”
Caintigern was eyeing him with an expression Iain couldn’t identify. “We, as a group, tend to keep a journal of our life. Did the Nightraven from,” she paused, “Twenty Three do so before she perished?”
“Up until the day she died. She also brought a large selection of books along with her from the libraries of the People that she had studied at. That included some journals of other dragonesses.”
“You have read these journals.”
“I’ve read the entire library she had. As soon as I realized what it held, reading it became something of a priority since it gave me information you two hadn’t bothered to share.”
“Do you have a journal like the ones that dragonesses keep?”
“I do. You don’t get access to it unless you share yours with me and we both know that’s not going to happen.” He glanced at the gate. “Eventually the Overseer of this platform is going to detect the abnormal energy of the gate and investigate it. If it decides it’s too foreign, it’ll start bombarding the area like the other one did after you experienced some of my emotions and reacted with your magic.”
“I wish you to contribute to the discussion that Nightraven and I must have.”
“And when she doesn’t want me to be involved?”
“I will insist she allow this.”
Iain shook his head. “I should not trust you. I so should not trust you. You’re a dragoness of the People. Your culture believes it’s perfectly fine to lie to drakes and tell me whatever it takes to get what you want.” He rubbed his eyes before facing her squarely. “If you are lying to me, I will never forget it and I will probably never trust you again.”
“I am not lying to you. You will see. Come.” She stepped through the gate.
Iain closed his eyes for a second to center himself and followed.
Iain Grey
Harem
Ninhursag Grey - Elfqueen & maharani
April Grey - Duelist & beta
Dominique Grey - Blessed Archmage
Pandora - Fiendish Archangel
Zareen - Nightmare
Sofia - Ria
Vanessa – Evangelion
Lucifer – Megami Sama
Ganieda – Snugglebunny Splice
Heather - Elfqueen
Marguerite – Unicorn
Scheherazade – Dread Wolf
Irena – Sanctuary Goth
Lynn – Dire Wolf
Rosemary – Mistoffeles
Dianthus – Elfqueen
Candace – Nurse Joy (kami)
Bellona – Dragonqueen
Elizabeth - Vampire
Outer Clan
Golden Cloud – equine unicorn
Arianrhod -Fey Goblin Female
Satellite Clan
74 male Goblins
89 female Goblins
Queendom / Outer Clan
1048 Elves & Elfqueens
Dionne - Elfqueen
Adrianna - Elfqueen
Heltu - Wet Queen
14 Wet Elves
Dead Harem
Eirian - Silver Dragoness
Aurum - Gold Dragoness
Skye - Blue Dragoness
Emerald - Green Dragoness
Beryl - Red Dragoness
Julia - human
Ling - Cheetit
Matilda - White Tigress
Liadan - Twau
Sorrel - Armsmistress
Natalie - Blazicunt
Maria – Slutton
Alabaster – Dragoness (white)
Onyx – Dragoness (black)
Lapis – Dragoness (blue)
Garnet – Dragoness (red)
Iolite – Dragoness (purple)
Malachite – Dragoness (green with white swirls)
Viersunuth great wyrm blue true dragoness
Talyl – drow commoner
Zarza – drow commoner
Sabrae – drow commoner
Sintree – drow commoner
Alyfaen Dinaen – drow, matron of House Dinaen
Phaerxae Dinaen – drow, former matron of House Dinaen, mother of Alyfaen
Selsharra of Evermeet
Mother Children
Vanessa
Myrna (Age 4)
Saoirse
April
Dorothy: Duelist (Age 3)
Meara: Duelist
Regan: Duelist
Lucifer
Olivia: Megami Sama (Age 6)
Seraphina: Megami Sama
Miram: Angel (Age 5)
Zareen:
Caltha: Nightmare (Age 0)
Kim: Nightmare
Xanthe: Nightmare
Epona: Nightmare
Philippa: Nightmare
Nott: Nightmare
Nyx: Nightmare
Sofia
Anna: Ria
Esmerelda: Ria
Monica Chambers
James: Jamie Harris kid (Age 2)